Career Development Professionals (CDPs) reflect on their own values and beliefs and seek to understand those of their clients. CDPs challenge their own assumptions and avoid stereotypes that might negatively impact the well-being of the client and the outcomes of career development interventions.To prepare for working with LGBTQ2+ clients, CDPs must develop an understanding of the challenges and barriers LGBTQ2+ clients face and how this may impact expectations regarding work, education and training.
Competent career development professionals must be able to:
Competent career development professionals must know and understand:
Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:
CDPs serve clients with diverse worldviews. Clients’ worldviews may influence their career choices and decisions. CDPs must reflect on these worldview factors to develop culturally sensitive and effective interventions.
CDPs serve clients who may present with complex barriers and challenges, including those stemming from discrimination and systemic inequalities. Clients often navigate contexts where opportunities are limited due to these factors.
CDPs serve clients who may present with past experiences of trauma and exclusion that may affect clients’ trust in career services. CDPs should approach their work with sensitivity to these histories, fostering an environment where clients feel safe and supported.
Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.
LGBTQ2: acronym to identify lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer and two-spirited persons.
Bisexuality: attraction to both male-identified and female-identified persons.
Biphobia: fear or hatred of bisexual persons or bisexuality.
Cisgender: a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex.
Coming out: process of becoming aware of one’s sexual orientation and sharing with others.
Gay: person who is attracted to someone of same sex or gender.
Gender role: stereotypical expectations of an individual based on gender.
Gender identity: person’s sense of own gender, which need not correlate to assigned sex at birth.
Heterosexuality: attraction to persons of opposite sex.
Heterosexism: form of oppression that targets people who are gay, lesbian and bisexual.
Homosexuality: attraction to persons of same sex.
Homophobia: fear or hatred of homosexuals.
Lesbian: a female identified person who is attracted to female-identified persons.
Straight: term used to refer to a person who identifies as heterosexual.
Trans: term used to represent range of gender identities.
Transgender: umbrella term to identify a person who transcends traditional gender roles e.g., transsexuals, Two Spirit people.
Two Spirit: a modern umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Aboriginal people who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ceremonial role within their culture.
Shepard, Blythe C. & Mani, Priya A. Eds. Career Development Practice in Canada. Toronto: CERIC Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-9811652-3-3.
Zunker, Vernon G. Career Counselling: A Holistic Approach 9th edition. Boston: Loose-leaf Edition, 2016. ISBN-10: 978-1-305-40106-8.
Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?
Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?
Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?
Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?
A competent career development professional requires a minimum of one year of experience with at least 40 different clients, representing a broad range of individuals, including LGBTQ2+ clients.
Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone.
It is unlikely that this competency will automate.
